There for Each Other
by Gandalf15
Summary: Hector and Jessica help each other out, through the ups and downs and in-betweens of life. Dedicated to the electric phantom.


**(Author's notes: I do not own the Electric Company characters. I would like to dedicate this story to my friend, the electric phantom, for making me feel so welcome in this fandom.)**

* * *

"Do you think the tornado will hit us, Hector?"

Hector, already quite big and strong at thirteen years old, looked down at eight-year-old Jessica. He smiled, trying his best to be reassuring.

"Hey, Jess, if it does, it won't hurt us. We're in the basement." He gestured around the dimly lit underground room, where a few of the building's other tenants milled around or checked their phones.

Jessica thought for a moment. "But what if it destroys the building?" Hector put his arm around her. "Well, then, it'll still be me, and you, and Mom and Dad. We'll all be together, and we'll make sure things go okay."

Jessica smiled up at her big brother. He ruffled her hair playfully.

The door leading out of the basement creaked open. Hector and Jessica looked up to see Mrs. and Mr. Ruiz, better known to them as Mom and Dad.

Mrs. Ruiz said "Good news, everyone! The storm's mostly blown over, with no tornadoes. It's safe to go back to our apartments now."

Everyone started to leave the basement. Jess and Hector ran up to their parents. Mr. Ruiz smiled and said "Come on, you two, let's get back upstairs."

The four of them left the basement. As they walked up the stairs, Jessica took Hector's hand.

* * *

"Hey! Come back here, you little-!"

Jessica sat up a little more in the park bench, and looked around. When she was little, she thought the park was boring, but now that she was eleven, she found that she enjoyed relaxing there.

"Hector? Where did you go?" she looked around again, then she saw her brother standing by a nearby tree, looking mad.

Jess walked over to him. He pointed angrily up the tree. "I was just sitting there, eating my peanuts, when I set them down to tie my shoe, and this squirrel ran up and took the bag!"

Jessica looked up. There was, indeed, a squirrel in the tree holding a small bag of peanuts in its paws, and wearing an almost triumphant expression.

Jessica covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing at Hector's predicament. "Here, let me try," she said, gesturing up to the squirrel. "Come on, little guy, come on," she said, clicking her tongue.

After a minute, the squirrel scurried back down the tree towards Jessica, letting the peanut bag drop as it did so. Hector quickly caught it.

Jess petted the squirrel as it clung to the tree, watching her from the same level as her face. A few moments later, it quickly revolved 180⁰ and zipped back up the tree. Hector gaped at her, astonished. "How do you _do_ stuff like that?"

Jessica smiled cheekily at her brother and shrugged. "I dunno, I guess I just got skills that way."

Hector shook his head. "Hey, speaking of skills, how's your thing working? You know, when you play back those sounds? How's that going for you?"

Jessica thought. "Well, sometimes I can play back pretty well, other times it just sounds like static. It's not like I don't wanna be in the Company, I just think I should get a better handle on the skill before I join, you know?"

Hector nodded. "No rush, take all the time you need. When you're ready, though, it'll be cool to have you in with us. Sometimes it gets boring with just me and Lisa."

"Yeah, right." Jessica chuckled. She was pretty sure that Hector had a tiny thing for Lisa, but he'd never actually said anything about it. Besides, she didn't want to bring it up in case it changed his mind about wanting her in the Company.

She yawned. "Well, if there aren't any more snacks that need rescuing from critters, I'll go back to my nap on the bench." She turned to go.

"Jess?" Hector asked. She turned back. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Jessica smiled and patted Hector on the shoulder. "No problem, bro."

* * *

"Oh, come on! HOW do you do this!?"

Seventeen-year-old Hector stopped and peeked into Jess's bedroom. She sat at her desk, head in her hands. He walked in. "Problem, Jess?"

Jess gestured at her paper, covered in numbers and symbols. "Nothing else in the assignment gave me a lot of trouble, but I can't figure out this one math problem."

Hector picked up the paper. "Hmm… I don't remember this type of problem when I was in your grade. Let me see…" he tried to work it out in his head. "Let's see… carry the five… point two… six… divided by pi…"

He picked up Jessica's pencil, making some calculations, and muttering to himself. "Um… seven pints… carry the decimal… six divided by two hundred… E equals… Pythagorean…"

Jessica got another pencil and began to work on her other problems. About a half hour later, she was finished with them, and Hector was still stumped. "Let me see your book." She handed it to him.

He read the relevant chapter and frowned. "Still don't get it…" Jessica looked over his shoulder, then snapped her fingers. "Oh! Now I get it!"

She took back the paper, and had the problem worked out in a couple seconds. "I guess I just needed to read the example another time."

Hector rubbed his forehead. "Well, if you understand it…" he chuckled weakly. "Sorry I wasn't much help."

Jess reached up and ruffled his hair. "Hey, you tried your best. It's the thought that counts. Thanks."

Hector smiled. "No problem. Hey, I forgot to ask, what did you think of your first week of being in the Company?"

Jessica smiled back. "Great! I'm so glad I was able to join. Things would be perfect, if it weren't for those Pranksters."

Hector nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Manny and Francine think they're so clever. Ah, well, I'm sure in a little while they'll get bored, and find something else to do. In the meantime, the three of us have got 'em handled."

Jessica cheerfully put her notebook in her binder. "Yup... the three of us."

* * *

"Hey, uh, Jessica? C-could you come here?"

Hector sounded scared. Jess got up from the couch and followed his voice into the kitchen. There she saw him, spread-eagled out against the wall.

Confused, Jessica asked "Uh… what are you doing?" Hector pointed to the wall on the other side of the kitchen. Jessica looked.

At first, she didn't notice anything. Then she saw it: an ugly black dart, crawling on the wall. A wasp. Hector had been terrified of insects his whole life, even now at age nineteen, so wasps were especially bad for him.

"Okay, calm down," Jess told him, looking around. Glancing back in the living room, she spied a large, thick copy of _Rebecca_. She ran and got it, then returned to the kitchen. Hector watched her anxiously.

Slowly, cautiously, she approached the wasp with the book at the ready. "Be careful!" Hector whispered hoarsely.

Jessica held up the book, took aim, and –BAM! Smashed the wasp with it, mashing the book in for good measure. "Did you get it?" Hector asked fretfully.

Jessica pulled back the book and looked at it. "Eeew. Yeah, I got it." Hector stepped away from the wall, looking immensely relieved.

Jess told him "Go get me some paper towels so I can clean the wasp guts off this, would ya?" Hector did so. Handing the towels to her, he said "Thanks, Jess. You're a life-saver."

Jessica laughed. "Anytime, bro. Anytime. Hey, siblings gotta help each other. Remember when I was eight, and there was the tornado warning? You helped me through that, the least I can do is kill a big, scary bug for you every once in a while."

Hector blushed a bit, but smiled at his sister. She grinned back.

They would always be there for each other.

* * *

 **~THE END~**


End file.
